05/05/2026
This is Li’l Smokie the cleft palate kitty and the story of her rescue. Being English, I can’t start my day without my morning cup of tea with milk and I was out of milk, so off I went to Food Lion on Garners Ferry to get some. I parked near the store door and as I got out of the car I heard loud meowing of a cat in distress. I looked around and under nearby cars in the parking lot, but saw no cat. I warily peered into nearby cars in case a cat was inside one, perhaps having been to a vet, but no sign of any cats. It took a while to realize the loud meowing came from the edge of the lot, and there at the road, some 30 feet up in the fork of a tree with no low branches you could see two tiny ears sticking up (see third photo). As loud as she was, I thought this was going to be a huge cat, but she was a baby. It’s lucky that she had such a loud voice for one so tiny. Cracked a can of food and placed it under the tree - no luck. Called Fire Department - “sorry, we don’t do that.” Called several tree people - one could come, but they were on a job already and it could only be after they finished. Didn’t want to leave kitty - heaven knows how or why such a tiny one got up there and there seemed no easy way for her to get down, but if she did she would be in danger from cats on very busy Garners Ferry plus the busy parking lot, but I also needed to get home to feed and medicate our many sanctuary cats. Just then, a fire truck rolled into the parking lot. I thought maybe it was coming to help after all, but it seemed the guys were getting lunch in the store, so I went in and asked them if they could help rescue kitty. They seemed reluctant - gave the usual spiel - “put food out, it will come down.” I went back to the tree, trying to figure something out. Then lo and behold, the firetruck drove up! They got the ladder up and rescued Li’l Smokie. Fortunately she turned out to be tame, but my heart sank when I discovered she had a rare congenital condition - a cleft palate. Normally, cleft kittens have to be tube fed and when old enough require very expensive corrective surgery, which was the last thing we needed with so many other cats with major health problems. The cleft caused food and liquids to be sneezed out of her nose when she tried to eat or drink, but since she already had teeth she would have bitten into a tube, I had to very carefully drip formula a drop at a time into her mouth from a 1 cc syringe - a tedious task, but crucial to try to avoid aspiration into her lungs. Also put her on antibiotic as she had some purulent nasal discharge. After a while she was able to eat Royal Canin Babycat dry food which is small enough to swallow but too big to go through the cleft. She ate well but didn’t grow much at first, but seemed otherwise normal. I decided to take more photos of the cleft to help raise money for surgery to correct it, and lo and behold found that the hole in her palate had closed up completely all by itself! This is apparently pretty much unheard of, but was a great relief. Now we just need donations to get her mouth and throat properly checked (she does still sneeze constantly while drinking water) before getting her spayed. Go Li’l Smokie! My first two wonderful cats were each named Smokey, one in England, one here in the US. Each lived to 18. Our fireman rescuer said this little kitty should be named Smokie since she is grey and was rescued by a fireman, so it seemed appropriate - spelled with “ie” at the end for a feminine touch. Smokie has now grown some. Let’s hope she lives to 18 too. Video of firemen rescuing Smokie in comments.😊❤️
To help with Smokie’s vet care:
Paypal.me/carocats
Cashapp:
Venmo:
Mail checks to PO Box 5565, Columbia SC 29250. Smokie thanks you.
